REVIEW by Synthia Ling
After enjoying Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, I became interested in reading his other books. I picked up Digital Fortress in hopes of finding another action-packed adventure that was fiction, but seemed like it was completely real. While I also liked Digital Fortress, it did not have all of the same great elements as The Da Vinci Code.
Digital Fortress is a story of a secret organization called the National Security Agency (NSA) which is considered to be even more powerful than the CIA. The protaganist Susan Fletcher is the top cryptographer of the NSA. The NSA's decoding machine, the TRANSLTR, can usually break a code in minutes. When it cannot break a mysterious code for hours, Susan is called down to the NSA headquarters. The code, named Digital Fortress, is written by a former NSA employee, Ensie Tankado, who is threatening to release the code to the public unless the NSA reveals the existence of the TRANSLTR. Meanwhile, David Blecker, Susan's fiance and a professor, is sent to Spain on a dangerous search for the code's pass-key.
Similar to The Da Vinci Code , this book has mystery, thrills, characters that are geniuses, and involves cryptography a lot. Digital Fortress, however, did not feel as real when I was reading it like The Da Vinci Code. I could tell Digital Fortress took a lot of research about cryptography, computers, and viruses though.
There are various settings in the book. Susan stays at the NSA headquarters the entire book but they story also goes to Spain and Tokyo. The book mostly contains solving puzzles and action which i enjoyed, but there is also romance in the book which I found uninteresting and a little cheesy. The plot was good with twists and a suprise ending.
Overall, Dan Brown's Digital Fortress is a great read, although do not expect it to be just as good as his The Da Vinci Code. Digital Fortress did make me wonder what was going to happen next as I was reading it so it was a definite page-turner. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a suspenseful and mysterious story with twists and suprises.
IMPORTANT QUOTES
"It is said that in death, all things become clear; Ensei Tankado now knew it was true. As he clutched his chest and fell to the ground in pain, he realized the horror of his mistake...Look at my hand! The faces around him stared, but he could tell the did not understand. On his finger was an engraved golden ring. For an instant, the markings glimmered in the Andalusian sun. Ensei Tankado knew it was the last light he would ever see" (1).
This quote is said by the narrator in the very begginning of the book in the prologue. It describes the thoughts of a person as he is dying, sets the mood of the book as dark, and introduces the first of several deaths to come in to book. The mystery of this quote made me ask a lot of questions and want to read on to figure out who Ensei Tankado is and what is engraved on his ring that he want people to see. Brown describes the ring as golden with markings, and the way Ensei Tankado wanted people to look at his hand makes it clear that it is engraved with something important.
"Susan stared at him and almost laguhed. Unbreakable? What was THAT supposed to mean? There was no such thing as an unbreakable code--some took longer than others, but every code was breakable. It was mathematically guaranteed that sooner or later TRANSLTR would guess the right key. 'I beg your pardon?'" (28).
This quote, said by the narrator, describes Susan's shock and disbelief when she first learns of the unbreakable code that threatens to make the TRNASLTR obsolete. It shows the extent of exactly how powerful th TRANSLTR is. Every single code the TRANSLTR has encountered has been broken until it encountered this code. The TRANSLTR disability to find the key for this code is the initiating incident of the story.
"Strathmore gazed down at the keyboard and began typing. He didn't bother to turn the moniter so he could see it. His fingers pecked out the words slowly and decisively. Dearest friends, I am taking my lifte today...Many had died...but there was still one life to take" (278).
This quote is said by the narrator after Commander Strathmore, the deputy director of operations of the NSA, after it is discovered he did something regrettable causing a major emergency. When I read this quote and what he was typing I thought this was definitely foreshadowint Strathmore taking his life because he is so anguished and upset about what he has done. This, however, is not the case because it later turns out he is not writing the letter for his suicide but writing a fake suicide letter for someone he murders.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DAN BROWN
Dan Brown, a #1 New York Times bestselling author, wrote his first novel Digital Fortress which became a #1 national bestselling eBook. He is also the author of many other popular novels: The Da Vinci Code, Angels & Demons, and Deception Point. He graduated from Amherst College and Phillips Exeter Academy, where he taught English. This is where he got the inspiration for Digital Fortress when the Secret Service showed up at the school after a student emailed another student sayign how he hated President Bill Clinton and how he should be shot. His controversial, world-renowned novel The Da Vinci Code, his most popular, has sold over 70 million copies and was made into a movie. Angels & Demons is being made into a film right now. Currently, he resides in New England with his wife Blythe.
Website by Synthia Ling P.1
